Jansson’s Temptation: Swedish Christmas Food

Right now before Christmas, inredningsvis has a recipe for a tradition Swedish Christmas dish: Janssons Frestelse, or Jansson’s Temptation in English. This is a dish that is commonly found in Swedish Christmas buffets. Try it yourself!

JANSSON’S TEMPTATION

Ingredients:

1 kg potatoes

2 onions

200 g anchovie filé

3 dl cream

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

2-4 tbsp butter

Method:

Peel potatoes and slice into thin strips.

Peel the onions and slice into thin strips.

Grease a baking dish.

Layer the potatoes, onions, and anchovies in the baking dish. Finish with potatoes on top.

Pour in anchovie brine and cream.

Sprinkle over some breadbrumbs.

Slice the butter thinly using a cheese slice and place on top.

Bake in the middle of the oven at 225°C for 1 hour.

When the potatoes are soft, your Jansson’s Temptation is ready.

Karlsson’s Temptation, Hansson’s Temptation and Svensson’s Temptation

If you use beef mince instead of anchovies, the dish is called Karlsson’s Temptation. If you make the dish vegetarian, it can either be called Hansson’s Temptationor Svensson’s Temptation, depending on where you come from

Jansson’s Temptation: The story behind the name

There are a few different theories about the story behind the name “Janssons Frestelse”. The first is that the dish was invented by Per Adolf Janzon, an opera singer who lived between 1844 and 1889. Janzon was known to invite people over for parties with beer, snaps, and a potato and anchovie dish. The dish was apparently popular, and the name Janzon’s Temptation came about. The only thing that doesn’t seem believable with this story is that the name “Janssons Frestelse” first began to be used in the 1900s.

Another theory about the inventor of Janssons Temptation is that Elvira Stigmark (1886-1953), a society lady, let the chef Mrs. Sofie Pauline Brogårde officially give a new name to an anchovie and potato dish – Janssons Frestelse – after a film with the same name (the film “Janssons Frestelse” from 1928).

I divide my time between being a professional musician, performance coach, and website designer. With Inredningsvis, my work is by and large behind the scenes, but I have published a few "How to" posts, as well as some (previously) top secret recipes!